Question: Discuss the application of DNA fingerprinting in medicine and evolutionary studies.

DNA profiling has wide range of applications.

Application in medicine: 

i) Genetic disease diagnosis: Many disorders like Huntington's disease, Haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease can be diagnosed by using DNA fingerprinting. With this technique genetic tests for genetic disorders have become quick and more effective.
 By employing DNA fingerprinting, with a single drop of mother's blood, doctors can find out if the fetus has any genetic abnormality or not. This technique is much safer and sophisticated for this kind of diagnosis.

ii)Paternity Testing: Every individual has an unique VNTR pattern. It is inherited from their parents. In spite of being unique, VNTR pattern of an individual shows enough similarity with the parental VNTR pattern. Hence we can use this to identify the biological father of an individual.

Application in Evolutionary Studies:

I) In biological classification. DNA fingerprinting can help to show evolutionary change and relationships in the molecular level.

II) DNA fingerprinting can be employed to determine the genetic identity of individuals and measure genetic variation in natural populations. It also allows accurate genetic relationships between individuals to be determined.

III) It enabled biologists to test predictions of kin selection models in a genuinely meaningful way.

IV) Can be applied to describe population structure and evolution.

V) Multi-locus profiles have also been used to detect species hybrids.